Pad of paper sheets



July 19, 1938. 1D, LANE E1- AL 2,123,903

. PAD 0F., PAPER SHEETS Filed Feb. 23, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 19, 1938. .1. D. LANE ET AL 2,123,903

PAD OF PAPER SHEETS Filed Feb. 23, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented `Iuly 19, 1938 UNITED STATES PAD 0F PAPER SHEETS John D. Lane, Boston, and Ralph H. Wilbur, Melrose, Mass.; said Lane assigner to said Wilbur Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 1,690

'5 Cs. (Ci. 281-15) This invention relates to a pad of paper sheets adapted to be removed from the pad and to be attached together in groups or series, the sheets coming ready for attachment from a pad oo nstituting a convenient and` advantageous form of package or assemblage.

In some omces or business houses, it is the practice to make out two, three, or more paper forms which go in the first instance to various individuals or departments and then come back for ling as a single group. The two, three, or more forms or sheets have heretofore been attached together as a group prior to ling by machines such as drive staples through the sheets or strike out tongues and unite such tongues to the bodies of the sheets. Not only are such machines liable to get out of order, but they add signicantly to the bulk or body thickness of the groups of paper forms or sheets and thus commensurately detract from the capacity of the cabinets in which they are filed.

In the pad of paper sheets embodying the present invention there are groups of at least two sheets provided at their upper margins with coatings coherent with similar coatings but nonadherent to uncoated surfaces and adapted to be brought together so that the coated surfaces confront each other with substantial coincidence of the upper edges of the sheets. According Ito the present invention, the sheets provided with such coatings may advantageously be bound at least at one edge thereof into pad form, but the coatings of the various sheets are arranged to be out of contact with one another in the pad sov that they may be readily removed individually from the pad for use. When the paper forms or sheets are to be used in groups or series of at least three sheets, the outer sheets of each group or series carry coatings on the upper margins of their confronting faces only, Whereas, on the other hand, the intermediate sheet carries coatings on both its unser marginal faces or is devoid of coatings but provided with one or more openings or perforations in itsI upper marginal portion. In the case of a group of sheets wherein the intermediate ones are coated,'the sheets are attached together by bringing their upper edges into substantial coincidence so that their various coatings cohere and thus bond together the sheets at their upper margins. In the case of a group of sheets wherein the intermediate one is uncoatedl but perforated, the sheets are attached together by bringing their upper edges into substantial coincidence and pressing the coated surfaces of the outer sheets into contact through the perforations of the intermediate sheet, thereby locking in place the intermediate sheet. By virtue of the fact that the coatings carried by the sheets may be extremely thin and yet perform the desired bonding function, the method of at- 5 taching together sheets according to our invention not only dispenses with fastening machines and lends itself to quick performance, but results in a group of attached sheets Whose body thickness has been only imperceptibly increased and can thus be filed in a cabinet with the occupation of minimum space.

With the foregoing features and other objects in view the present invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings wherein,-

Figure 1 shows in perspective a pad of paper sheets embodying our invention.

Figures 2, 3, and 4 show in perspective the upper margins of an outer sheet, an intermediate sheet, and an outer sheet, respectively, of a group or series of sheets in the pad.

Figure 5 is a section through only a single group of sheets in the pad.

Figure 6 is a section through a group of the sheets attached together for filing.

Figure '7 shows in perspective another pad of sheets embodying our invention.

Figures 8, 9, 10, and l1 show in perspective the upper margins of an outer sheet, an intermediate sheet, a second intermediate sheet, and an outer sheet, respectively, of each series of sheets in the pad of Figure 7.

Figure 12 shows in perspective a fragment of another form of intermediate sheet that might be used.

Figure 13 is a section through a single group of the sheets of the pad of Figure 7.

Figure 14 depicts the manner of attaching together the sheets of a group preparatory to filing.

Figure 15 is a section through the attached sheets on the line I5-i5 of Figure 14. As shown in Figure 1, the pad of the present invention may comprise a pile of sheets one sidel edge l0 of which may be bound together as by a 45 canvas lor cheese-cloth binding strip impregnated with glue or similar adhesive. The pad shown comprises triplicate groups or series of sheets each of which may carry imprinted thereon any suitable data or formal matter. The rst sheet Il,.which constitutes an outer sheet of a thereof. The third or outer sheet I5 of a group carries a strip of coating I6 on the upper margin of the outer face thereof, that is, on the face confronting the coated face of the sheet II. In order to. prevent sticking together of the coated sheets in the pad, the upper edges of the sheets I5 constitute the upper edge of the pad, the upper edges of the sheets I3 lie slightly below the lower edges of the stripes I6, and the upper edges of the sheets II lie slightly below the lower edgesof the stripes I 4. The three sheets of each group may have a common or coinciding lower edge in the pad and thus may be of different length, as shown; or all of the sheets of each group may be of the same length and thus present non-coinciding lower edges in the pad. Because the coatings on the sheets are of a non-adhesive character, no difficulty is had when the sheets are removed one by one from the pad and are placed in triplicate form in a typewriter with their upper edges coinciding, since their coatings have notendency to adhere.to the carbon paper inserted therebetween. Once the triplicate sheets have been filled in, have gone through the proper` channels, and have been returned for filing, they may be placed one on top of the other, as shown in Figure 6, and pressed together at their upper marginal areas to effect the desired attachment of the sheets through the cohesion of their coatings. It will be observed that the outer sheets which carry coatings only. on their confronting upper marginal faces up to their upper edges have their coatings brought into contact with the coatings carried on both the upper marginal faces of the intermediate sheet, the upper edges of all the sheets being in substantial coincidence.

Another pad of sheets embodying the present invention is illustrated in Figure 7. This pad is also bound at a side edge I1. 'I'he group of sheets in this pad may be quadruplicate and, as shown, may comprise an outer sheet I8 carrying a stripe of coating I9 on its inner upper marginal face and another outer sheet 20 carrying a. stripe of coating 2I on its outer upper marginal face. Rather than providing the two intermediate sheets 22 with coatings on both their faces, the upper margins of such sheets are providedwith rows of perforations 23 which permit such intermediate sheets to be locked in place between the attached outer sheets, as will presently appear. If desired, the perforations in the intermediate sheets4 may take the form of slots 24 extending downwardly from the upper edges, as shown in Figure 12. O'f course, a single elongated slot extending laterally in an intermediate sheet adjacent to its upper edge is the equivalentof a row of perforations. Since the intermediate sheets 22 are without coatings, their upper edges may coincide in the pad with the upper edges of the outer sheets 20, but the upper edges of the outer sheets I8 lie, as shown in Figure '7, just below the stripe of coating 2| in the outer .sheets 20, thereby avoiding contact between the coatings of the outer sheets such as might tend tor bond together the four sheets of a group while still in the pad. Once the qaudruplicate sheets have been removed from the pad, used, and returned for filing, they may be attached together in much the same way as the sheets of the pad in Figure 1. In other Words, the upper edges of the sheets to which the coatings extend may be brought into substantial coincidence and, as shown in Figure 14, their upper margins pressed together between the forefinger and thumb so as to bring the coated surfaces of the outer sheets into contact through the perforations of the intermediate sheets, as appears in Figure 15.

There are various coating compositions that may be used to produce the coatings necessary on the multiplicate sheets of the present invention. Generally speaking, such coating compositions comprise solutions or dlspersions of an elastic substance, such as rubber, which are applied in iiuent state to the appropriate surfaces and permitted to dry or set thereon. We have found that rubber latex compositions are especially suitable for the purposes of our invention, since they are aqueous compositions which may be readily applied and dried on paper sheets to deposit the desired coatings which have no adhesive ainity for uncoated paper or other uncoated bodies but which, when brought together, cohere with the desired tenacity or bond.

The ordinaryr rubber latices of commerce, for instance, ammonia-preserved latex of normal solids content, say, of about 30% to 35% solids content, diluted rubber latices, or sc -called conoentrated rubber latices of much higher than normal solids content may be employed. If desired, the rubber latices may be compounded with various agents, such as fillers, vulcanizing ingredients, glycerine, or other agents designed to modify the degree of tenacity or cohesiveness with which coatings deposited from the rubber latices cohere. In all instances when We use rubber latex dispersions, rubber latices or rubber solutions as the coating composition, we prefer to compound therewith so-called anti-oxidants, as they tend to preserve the rubber coatings deposited from the compositions in a stable or unoxdized condition, that is, to' prevent such coatings from becoming more or less brittle and progressively losing their cohesive qualities as they are aged or exposed to atmospheric influences.

'Ihe word upper or upwardly as used in the appended claims in characterizing the disposition of the sheet margins or coatings in the pad means real up direction and not direction relative to the user of the pad.

We claim:-

1. A pad of paper sheets bound together at least at one ed'ge and made up of multiplicate groups of sheets, each group comprising at least two sheets carrying at the upper margin of their confronting surfaces coatings adapted to cohere with similar coatings but non-adherent to an uncoated paper surface, said coatings being arranged in oiset relationship in said pad but being adapted to be brought into contact with substantial coincidence of their upper edges after removal from the pad.

2. A pad of multiplicate paper sheets coming in groups of at least three sheets, all of said sheeets in the pad being bound at least at one edge, the upper margins of atleast two of the sheets in each group carrying coatings adapted to cohere with similar coatings but non-adherent to uncoated paper, said coatings being arranged in offset relationship in said pad but being adapted to be brought into Contact after removal from the pad to attach together the sheets of each series with substantial coincidence of their upper edges.

3. A pad of multiplicate paper sheets coming in groups of at least three sheets, all of the sheets in the pad being bound at least at one edge, the upper margins of only the outer sheets in each group carrying only on their confronting faces coatings adapted to cohere with similar coatings but non-adherent to uncoated paper, said coatings being arranged one upwardly of the other in the pad, and the upper margin of an intermediate sheet in a group being perforated, whereby after the sheets of a group have been removed from a pad, they may be attached together by bringing the upper-edges of the sheets into substantial coincidence and pressing the coated surfaces of the outer sheets into contact through the perforation of the intermediate sheet.

4. A pad of multiplicate'paper sheets coming in groups of at least three sheets, all of the sheets in the pad being bound at least at one edge, the upper margins of the outer sheets in each group carrying only on their confronting faces coatings adapted to cohere with similar A coatings but non-adherent to uncoated paper and ing similar coatings on both its faces, said coat-l ings being arranged one upwardly of the other in the pad and being adapted to be brought into contact after removal from the. pad to attach together the sheets of each group with substantial coincidence of their upper edges.

5. A pad of paper sheets bound together at least at one edge and made up of multiplicate groups of sheets, each group comprising at least two sheets carrying at a corresponding margin of their confronting surfaces coatings adapted to cohere with similar coatings but non-adherent to an uncoated paper surface, said coatings being arranged in offset relationship in said pad but being adapted to be brought into contact with substantial coincidence of their edges at said margin after removal from the pad.

JOHN D. LANE. RALPH H. WILBUR. 

